Water of the Sea
by Yotsubadancesintherain5
Summary: Ruby wasn't the type that was particularly interested in fantasy stories. Part 9 of the Fairytale/Supernatural series.


Ruby loved the pool. The smell of it clung to her skin and put her all into the swim team. If, when she went into sophomore year and colleges started sniffing for prospective students, she could get a scholarship for being on the swim team it would be a dream.

But for now she was in the general monotony of studying, socializing and swimming. The three S's, not that she was complaining. The fourth S that she was content with was "simplicity", a lack of draining drama. Maybe in the future she would wish for someone to steal the frogs from the biology lab or toss water balloons from the school roof but that was just the future.

It was near the end of the school day, and Ruby was sitting by the pool in her swimsuit, gym bag by her side. The smell of chlorine was pungent but somewhat comforting. Some people had the same reaction to the smell of gasoline but Ruby couldn't really see that. That smell gave her a headache.

She heard the tiles clack, echoing through the room, and looked up to see a girl running near the edge of the pool. Ruby barely managed to yell, "Hey, no running near the pool!" before the girl's foot slipped and she fell headfirst into the water.

Ruby's mind went into lock-down, repeating a mantra of "drowning, drowning, drowning" and she dove into the water. Her strokes cut through the water like butter and she quickly made it to where the girl fell.

But the girl wasn't in danger of drowning. There would be very little percentage of that because it seemed as though her legs had fused together to form a tail.

Ruby choked on the water, her reflexes failing to keep her treading water. Through her coughing she uttered, "What-"

"Oh," the girl gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"A mer-" Ruby wondered if her burning lungs decided to conspire against her. "Mermaid-"

"Yes," the girl said, "But nobody was supposed to find out."

Ruby latched her hands onto the edge of the pool and pulled herself out. She hit her fist against her chest until she felt like she could talk again.

Unfortunately, she was at a loss for words.

"This is..." the girl said. "Um. As you can see..."

Ruby figured out something to say. "Can you... changed back?"

"Oh, um, yes," the girl said. "I just have to dry off my legs."

Ruby walked over to one of the pool ladders. Her heart was like a jackhammer.

The girl swam to the ladder and held on to the outer rungs. Ruby lifted her out of the water with some difficultly and set her on the tiled floor. Ruby went to her gym bag and dug out one of her towels, careful to not drip water on her clothes.

"Here," she said to the girl, handing the towel to her. "Do you need a change of clothes?"

"No, I'm all right," said the girl. "I'm on the tennis team so I always keep a spare change of clothes in my bag."

That sounded like a good idea. Ruby pulled at her swimsuit, the fabric sticking to her skin. "Well, I'm Ruby. I'm a freshman."

"Sapphire," said the girl. "Sophomore." Ruby thought it was odd that there was pleasantries going on when a fellow student's legs became a tail. Dancing around the issue as it were.

"So, why were you running?" Ruby asked.

"I forgot my wallet in the restroom," Sapphire said. "I wasn't thinking."

"I wasn't either," Ruby admitted. "I'm not very strong yet. No lifeguard training. If you really were drowning..." She let the thought trail off.

"It worked out," Sapphire said.

"I can go get your wallet," Ruby said, her feet doing a sort of shuffle as she went away. "Change, too, um..."

She went to pick up her gym bag and went to the restroom. The locker room really wasn't much different so Ruby didn't mind changing there. She looked under the sinks after she changed and saw a leather wallet. She returned to Sapphire with her gym bag and the wallet.

"Thank you," Sapphire said. Her tail was gone, and she was drying her hair. "I'm glad nobody stole it."

"Yeah." Ruby held out her hand and Sapphire took it. "Um, I'm sorry for assuming you couldn't swim."

"No worries," Sapphire replied. She tiled her head in slight confusion before saying, "I'm going to go change."

Ruby waited outside the locker room, a foot resting on the lower locker's combination lock and her gym bag resting by her feet. She hadn't ever been interested in fantasy or fiction stories but she did pick up a few mythologies in early elementary. Nothing matched with what happened to Sapphire, so unless they decided to pretend this never happened Ruby hoped she would be able to ask.

She heard the heavy door click open and she stepped away from the locker. Her shoe accidentally left a black mark on the combination lock, so she'd have to clean that up later.

Sapphire edged out of the door and let it shut when she got through. She hefted her gym back onto her shoulder and smiled. They walked out to the front of the school together.

"So, what did you want to know?"

All of Ruby's questions evaporated. She bit her tongue, cursing her brain for scattering all of her questions right when being asked.

"How... how did you become a mermaid?"

"Well, I just am, I suppose," Sapphire said. "Always avoided huge bodies of water if there are other people around. Taking a bath is anything but comfortable. Usually people just assume that I'm afraid of water."

"Did anybody ever try to... shove you in?"

"Not really," Sapphire said. "I can scream pretty loudly if I need to. And I think I've just been lucky."

"I see."

They had walked to the edge of the crosswalk.

"My house is this way," Sapphire said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

They walked in the opposite direction. Ruby's life may had abandoned her fourth S, but somehow she felt content with this.

**A/N: Originally posted on AO3 on April 22 2017**


End file.
